Saline County, Kansas Eviction Risk: Very Low
11 incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. The county Eviction Risk Score is held aloft by the city of Salina (2.4) and a small number of dense urban cores. Rent-control coverage varies by city.
Ranked #40 of 105 KS counties
48k residents · 11 cities · 13 tracts
Saline County eviction risk score history
Key metrics
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Tenant beats landlord5.5%/ 100 outcomesIn court-decided eviction outcomes for Saline County, KS, tenants prevail in roughly 5.5% of contested cases. A higher number means landlords face stronger tenant defenses and longer calendars.
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Timeline35dfiling → judgmentFrom the moment an unlawful-detainer notice is filed in Saline County, KS until a money judgment is entered, a contested eviction takes about 35 days on average. Longer timelines mean more lost rent for landlords.
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Cost range$1.3–3.7klegal + lost rentA typical eviction in Saline County, KS costs landlords $1,301 to $3,725 all-in, covering court filing fees, process-server costs, attorney time, and lost rent.
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Average rent$96027% stretched on rentAverage gross rent in Saline County, KS is $960 per month per the U.S. Census American Community Survey. 27% of renter households here spend more than 30% of pre-tax income on rent.
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Renters35.8%of households35.8% of occupied housing units in Saline County, KS are renter-occupied. A higher renter share usually correlates with more eviction filings and a more active rental market.
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Poverty13.1%4.0% unemp.13.1% of Saline County, KS residents live below the federal poverty line, and unemployment runs at 4.0%. Both feed the economic-stress sub-score in our Eviction Risk Score model.
Scrub 50 years
Saline County's average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10 spans a range of 1.8 (Salina) to 2.9 (Assaria), reflecting meaningful intra-county variation despite the low overall rating. Ranked 86th of 105 Kansas counties, placing Saline County in the lower-risk third of the state.
How Saline County ranks in Kansas
Landlord guides for Kansas
| City↕ | Population↕ | Risk↕ | % income on rent↕ | Average rent↕ | Lean↕ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | Salina | 46,307 | 2.2 | 26.5% | $959 | Rep |
| 002 | Assaria | 521 | 2.2 | 40.0% | $969 | Rep |
| 003 | Gypsum | 443 | 2.4 | 22.8% | $918 | Rep |
| 004 | Brookville | 191 | 1.9 | 32.9% | $1,125 | Rep |
| 005 | Smolan | 148 | 2.4 | 32.5% | $1,028 | Rep |
| 006 | New Cambria | 144 | 1.9 | 17.6% | $1,105 | Rep |
| 007 | Kipp | 129 | 1.7 | 26.6% | $959 | Rep |
| 008 | Falun | 125 | 2.2 | 26.6% | $959 | Rep |
| 009 | Mentor | 83 | 1.8 | 26.6% | $959 | Rep |
| 010 | Bavaria | 50 | 1.8 | 26.6% | $959 | Rep |
| 011 | Bridgeport | 29 | 1.8 | 26.6% | $959 | Rep |
County heatmap
One county, multiple regulatory regimes.
Saline County, Kansas eviction laws carries a county average eviction risk score of 2.2/10, placing it in the Low risk tier and ranking it 86th of 105 Kansas counties, where rank 1 is the highest-risk. In practical terms, 85 counties across the state carry more landlord risk than Saline County, and only 19 are less risky, putting this county firmly in the lower-risk third of Kansas eviction laws. For investors weighing where to place capital, that positioning signals a relatively stable operating environment across the county's 11 cities, with an average rent of $960 and an average rent burden of 26.6% of household income.
That said, the county-wide average of 2.2/10 masks a real spread. Individual city scores range from 1.7 to 2.4, meaning a landlord's actual exposure depends heavily on which community they choose. The county-level number is a useful starting benchmark, but underwriting decisions should be made at the city level, not the county level.
The cities inside Saline County
Salina dominates the county's population, accounting for roughly 46,307 of the county's 48,170 total residents, and it anchors the low end of the risk range at 2.2/10. Because the vast majority of rental units in Saline County are in Salina eviction risk, the county average is essentially pulled down to match that city's score. Investors concentrating on Salina are operating in one of the more landlord-friendly markets in Kansas eviction laws.
The highest-risk readings inside the county belong to Assaria and New Cambria, both scoring 1.9/10, followed by Gypsum and Smolan at 2.4/10. These are small communities, with Assaria at 521 residents and Gypsum at 443, so the rental markets are thin and individual tenant situations can skew local conditions quickly. Falun and Bavaria each score 1.8/10, while Brookville comes in at 1.9/10. None of these scores are alarming on an absolute basis, but risk in this county is genuinely hyper-local: a landlord holding property in Assaria faces a meaningfully different profile than one operating in Salina, even though both addresses share a county.
State-level laws that apply here
Kansas eviction laws state law governs every landlord-tenant relationship in the county under K.S.A. § 58-2540 et seq. (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act). For non-payment of rent, Kansas eviction laws requires just a 3-day notice to pay or quit. Lease violations that can be cured require a 14-day notice, and no-cause end-of-term terminations require 30 days. Uncontested evictions typically resolve in 21 to 45 days; contested cases can run 45 to 100 days. The full Kansas eviction laws eviction process is worth reviewing before acquiring rental assets here, because timeline variance between uncontested and contested cases is significant.
On the cost side, court filing fees run $120 to $200, sheriff lockout fees add $40 to $150, and attorney fees for representation typically range from $500 to $2,500. Kansas eviction laws imposes no rent control and does not require just cause to terminate a tenancy, which is a meaningful protection for landlords. The state also preempts any local rent control ordinances, so no city inside the county can impose rent caps. For a full breakdown, see the Kansas eviction costs and Kansas security deposit limits guides. Source of income is not a protected class under Kansas eviction laws state fair housing law.
With a poverty rate of 13.1% and 35.8% of households renting, Saline County's risk profile is shaped almost entirely by Salina's scale, but the city-by-city scores in the grid above show where the real differences lie within the county.
How Saline County compares
Saline County's average eviction-risk score of 2.2/10 (Low) places it 86th of 105 Kansas counties, meaning 85 counties carry more risk and only 19 are less risky. Among its closest peer counties, Ford County scores 1.73/10, Pottawatomie County scores 1.87/10, Riley County scores 1.96/10, Finney County scores 2.04/10, and Cowley County scores 2.18/10, making Saline County one of the more competitive, landlord-favorable markets in this peer group.